Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, along with her daughter and party MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, on Sunday recalled memories of Diwali festival celebrations at the Gandhi household from 1968.
This comes ahead of the launch of her memoir: “Belonging: A Journey of Love”.
A video posted on the official X account of the veteran Congress leader shows her, along with Priyanka Gandhi, interacting in the garden of 1, Safdarjung Road residence of the late former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Recalling her memories of celebrating the festival of lights, Sonia Gandhi said: “Diwali was always beautiful. At the entrance there used to be an idol of Lord Ganesh, which is now in my house.”
“We would first light the diya by Ganesh ji’s idol. It was always decorated,” she added.
The senior Congress leader said that since they didn’t have those “little lights” back then, the entire house used to be decorated with ‘diyas’.
“We had diyas everywhere, along the pond, all along the roof, verandah and wherever there was a path. It was very pretty,” she said.
Priyanka Gandhi added that the family used to celebrate both Holi and Diwali festivals.
“All sorts of people used to come in this garden.”
Asked about bursting of firecrackers, Sonia Gandhi jokingly remarked: “They used to go berserk with these firecrackers.”
To this, Priyanka Gandhi recalled that her father, former Prime Minister late Rajiv Gandhi, used to take her and her brother Rahul Gandhi, now the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, to Chandni Chowk to buy firecrackers.
“We used to go to old Delhi to buy crackers,” she said.
Asked if she enjoyed firecrackers, Sonia Gandhi said that she was fine with ‘phuljhadis’ (sparklers).
“Weather at that time was beautiful, blue skies and all which you hardly see now. It was lovely.”
Priyanka Gandhi, the Wayanad MP, echoed her, saying: “I remember the blue sky, here, in this garden.”
Further, Sonia Gandhi also spoke about the food served at the Gandhi household on festive occasions.
“On festivals we always used to have Kashmiri food and that sweet rice, which we still make,” she said.
The CPP Chairperson also extended greetings on the occasion of the Diwali festival.
–IANS
